April 28th

Part four

When we arrived at the airport, I called the agency SW and we made plans to meet her and baby girl the next morning.  We were so nervous!  I unpacked our things in the hotel room and hit the hay early.  The next morning, we had breakfast in the hotel.  I was very aware that it could be the last time that it was just me and Hubbs.  Butterflies!  The SW called after we ate and she gave us instructions to her house. 

Ten minutes later, she called back to tell us that, by the way, the court hearing for temporary legal custody would be at 2pm.  It was about 10:30am.  We were both dressed casually, so we quickly changed into clothes that would make a We-Are-Super-Worthy-To-Be-Parents statement, rather than, I-Love-A-Good-Backyard-Barbeque one.  It was while we were changing that Hubbs announced that he forgot black socks and asked if he should just wear his white tube socks with his black pants and shoes.  Oy.  About 20 minutes later, we were at Target purchasing dress socks.  He was killing me.  And then we got lost.  Finally, we made it to the house....12 noon.

The SW met us outside and led us into her living room.  Perched on top of the coffee table was an infant carrier with a baby girl peering out at us with big beautiful eyes.  She was ten weeks old.  I was the first to hold her and it felt foreign to me.  I couldn't believe what was happening at that moment.  Hubbs sat next to me on the couch and SW snapped a few pics.  Baby girl was simply beautiful.  In my head, I was still questioning if this was actually going to happen.  We met SW's husband, who also happened to be the agency attorney.  He was all business (major plus in our book) and gave us the itinerary for that afternoon.  It was also decided in that time that we would stay in their home, rather than staying in the hotel.  We had been invited prior to arriving as this was what many of their clients did, but we felt kind of weird about being houseguests in a complete stranger's home.  But they were so gracious and practically insisted and there was plenty of room in their spacious and gorgeous home.  Plus, it would save us on the hotel costs.   So, we raced back to the hotel to pack up all of our stuff that I had unpacked twelve hours earlier and we checked out.  Upon arriving back to the house, the attorney informed us that we had to go.  We were handed the baby in the carrier and her diaper bag and we were to follow the attorney to the courthouse about 25 minutes away.  We weren't expecting to take the baby with us in our car(!).  One important lesson we learned....assume nothing.  While the attorney waited in his idling car and the SW suddenly MIA, Hubbs and I had simultaneous mini-panic attacks as we rushed to figure out how to safely secure the carrier in the backseat of the rental car.  To add to this, we were dealing with 40 mph wind gusts.  This was Kansas, after all.  If Hubbs had duct tape, I think he would have used it.  At one point in those few minutes, he yelled for me to find the owner's manual of the car, as if that was going to have a tutorial on how to properly install a car seat.   Finally, after what seemed like way too long for normal people, we pulled ourselves together and secured the carrier with the seatbelt.  An 'A-ha!' moment, to be sure.  We had no idea what we were doing.  Were they really going to give us this baby?  Holy cow. 

We followed the attorney and made it on time.  Inside the courthouse, the attorney briefed us again on what would happen and what we would be asked by the judge.  He met with the judge first in his quarters and then we were brought in.  After about 10 minutes, we had legal temporary custody of baby girl.  She slept the entire time, totally unaware that her life, just like ours, was about to change forever.

Our first trip as a family? The drive-thru of Arby's.  It was there in the parking lot, munching on curly fries, that we called our families to give them the news.  We were in Kansas and had custody of a baby girl.